Caption: HeLa cells. Coloured scanning electron micrograph (SEM) of HeLa cancer cells growing in culture. The cells appear triangular in shape with microvilli projections on their surfaces. HeLa cells are the first human cell line, established in 1952 to research cancer. They were obtained from the cervix of Henrietta Lacks (after whom the cells are named) from Baltimore, USA, in 1951, who died of cervical cancer eight months later. The cancer was an epidermoid carcinoma. HeLa cancer cells thrive unusually well in the laboratory and are used in research worldwide. Magnification x300 at 6x7cm size.